The Federal Government has ordered the cancellation of the National Identification Number retrieval fee which network subscribers are meant to pay to retrieve their NIN for the duration of the NIN/SIM card integration exercise.
The Nigerian Communication Commission had on December 15, 2020 asked telecommunication service providers to block SIM cards not registered with NIN after two weeks and the NCC had shared a USSD code that could be used to check if your SIM is connected to the NIN at a cost of N20.
The NCC has now been ordered the removal of the imposed USSD fee.
A statement on Friday by the spokesperson for the Minister of Communications, Uwa Suleiman, titled, ‘Pantami Orders Cancellation Of NIN Retrieval Charge Across All Networks’, partly read, “The Minister’s directive which takes immediate effect, is an intervention aimed at making the process easier and affordable.
“In a letter conveying the implementation of the directive, the Executive Vice Chairman NCC and the Director-General of NIMC informed Pantami that the relevant authorities had met with, and negotiated a waiver with the Mobile Network Operators in that regard.
“By this waiver, all Nigerians, subscribers and applicants can access the service using the *346# code for their NIN retrieval at no charge for the duration of the NIN/SIM Card integration exercise.”
